The third and final Day of the Social Impact in the Regions conference, Day 3, was held at Stanthorpe State High School and had two streams. One stream was an ‘Unconference’ format led by Taz and Em from Futures Isle with the youth cohort, where delegates selected session ideas proposed on the day and over the previous days at the conference. The second stream was a dedicated Place-Based Research Forum that focused exclusively on the research involved in place-based practice.
The session started with all delegates in the same room where Taz and Em got those in the room ready for the day with trivia, laughs, and warmth.
School principal Justin Kuskie welcomed delegates to the School, sharing about the local leadership program in the school that includes over 10% of the school’s 500+ student population. Ready Communities previously delivered a hackathon at the school with Futures Isle and engaged the high school students through the conference, who also integrated with the national Futures Isle youth cohort.
The rest of the day included deep dives across the school in respective pop-up and dedicated workshops. A shared lunch put on by the local Scouts group bringth people together for continued shared learning and reflection.
Place-Based Research Forum outcomes
The place-based research forum is based on a position piece stating that place-based research requires better engagement. This was supported by feedback from a pre-forum survey and by attendees in the room. The outcomes from the Forum will be presented in a post-conference communique and further engagement and development over the next 12 months, leading to a more dedicated conversation in Social Impact in the Regions 2027.
Delegate feedback
Unconference
“LOVED this day with the breakout groups and the opportunity for the Youth takeover! So many wonderful conversations happened in those rooms.”
“The unconference is both the most fun and the most connected part of SIITR. The youth presentations and the organisation by Futres Isle are very informative and emotive. Not only do I learn and engage I feel like we help the young people on their journey too. 5 stars!”
“The young people were really inspiring as were their breakout sessions. I was really grateful to have gone to those.”
“I enjoyed how this was facilitated. It was great to hear from young people about their specific projects and challenges. I liked the smaller groups where group discussions was encouraged.”
“Day 3 was special as the groups were a bit smaller and the youth sessions were fantastic.”
“I think that Day 3 was a great day to relax after 2 big days and the youth were so inspiring like 2025.”
“Really loved seeing the young people share their perspectives and insights. A great discussion, inspiring”
“The youth was so inspiring.”
“The youth are the future”
“The format of the Unconference and the rapid fire sessions could work well. The ability to choose several different topics of interest, hear a brief overview and then workshop/feed ideas etc into it is a great format.”
“Connecting with people and the unconference day The story of the High School with 70% tertiary qualifications was very intersting too”
Place-based Research Forum
“The Day 3 mini-summit was a standout for me. Its participatory format allowed for more depth and honest discussion about how research happens with communities. I particularly valued the focus on local knowledge, cultural authority, data custodianship and the responsibility attached to asking people for their time, stories and connections. The discussion made clear that research should leave something useful with the place, rather than extracting information for a report that communities may never see again.”
“Really enjoyed the place based research forum. The collective knowledge in the room was exceptional!!! Really inspiring stuff. Thank you”
“The conference caught my eye because of the place based research forum and it did not disappoint. I hope we can keep the work we started there going.”
“The discussions in the research forum were very profound and still have me pondering.”
“I loved Day 3… Real value in working with people, coming up with ideas, bouncing insights and tangible outputs off each other and anticipating ongoing contribution and progress”
“I would have preferred to spend 3 days on this research forum… The delegates in the room were highly relevant to my work.”
“Inspired by the ideas defining place that came out of the research group.”
“Having a formal paper as an outcome of the event is very powerful and enables the outcomes to be shared and built on”
“I think the idea of a research project had real potential. The huge turn up shows the topic and approach is sought after”
Stanthorpe State High School
“The high school’s involvement was impressive and as a parent of kids there I learnt a lot about the VET program and hadn’t appreciated this is not common practice in other schools.”
“Learning about the town itself was interesting, I also really enjoyed learning about the tertiary study opportunities the local high school provide their students access to.”
“The highschoolers did a fantastic job of serving everyone!”
“Scouts made the best food of the whole conference.”
“The morning tea at the high school was excellent”
